Ledger-balances index.



No. 675,436. Patanted Juno 4, I901. V. C. BROGK.

LEDGER BALANCES INDEX.

(Application filed Jan. 31, 1900.)

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No. 675,436. Patented lune 4, IBM. V. C. BROCK.

LEDGER BALANCES INDEX.

(Application filed Jan. 31, 1900.) (No Model.) 3 Sheeta8haot 3.

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UNlED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VINEYARD CRAWVFORD BROCK, OF VVASCO, OREGON.

LEDGER-BALANCES INDEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 675,436, dated June 4,1901. Application filed January 31, 1900. Serial No. 3,518. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VINEYARD CRAWFORD BROOK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of lVasco, in the county of Sherman and State ofOregon, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ledger-BalancesIndexes, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings as a part thereof.

My invention relates to indices designed to be used in connection withthe ledger kept in a bank or business-house for the purpose of recordingor posting the balances which the ledger shows as to each account in thecourse of transactions during a certain period of time.

The objects of myinvention are to obtain an index to the balance of eachcustomer or account and to provide a complete system for checking theledger-entries made in the current days work or other period of time andaffecting any of the accounts so kept, such system to be of dual form,in one part of which are checked up the transactions involving a groupof names of customers or accounts and in the other part of which arechecked up all the transactions of the entire day, to retain a completerecord of the days transactions, to have this record continuous, tointroduce a system and provide the means for retaining a complete recordof the preceding days work while completing the record of the currentdays work in order that one days record may be proved by the other, andif any discrepancy appear that then the correctness of the record ofeither day may be examined into and verified until the error has beendiscovered.

The memoranda notedin the index invented by me may be intended fortemporary or permanentpreservation. Whenintendingto use myindex systemfor noting temporary memoranda,that portion of the leaves on which suchtemporary notes are to be posted is provided with an erasing-surface,and in that case as such erasable matter is easily blurred and effacedby the handling of the pages of theindex I have provided each page withnarrow raised strips or guards along their three outer edges to preventthe silicious surfaces from coming in contact with each other.

All these features of my invention will be more readily understood byreferring to the accompanying drawings, above referred to, the figuresin which represent as follows: The first five figures illustrate some ofthe mechanical features incidentally used in the practice of myinvention, namely:

Figure 1 shows a ledger opened at the back and having attached to theback cover my balances-index, which is opened in front and the frontcover of which has a hinged folded tongue 0 inserted in a pocket 61 onthe inside of the back cover of the ledger. In Fig. 2 the ledger andindex are represented as slightly raised, so as to afford a perspectiveillustration of the features described as seen in Fig.

1. Fig. 3 shows perspectively a ledger and balances-index attachedthereto, but folded against the back cover of the ledger, the ledgerbeing seen as opened, the back cover also being shown by broken lines asit would appear when closed. In Fig. 4 the operation of the foldedtongue hinged to the front cover of the index is illustrated. Fig. 5represents a longitudinal section taken about through the middle of aportion of the leaves of the index and illustrates how the guards c keepthe surface of the index-pages apart to prevent such surfaces fromrubbing against each other in the handling of the index and pro' tectthe erasable matter thereon entered against blurring and effacement. Inorder to show this particular mechanical construction of my invention ona sufficient scale, it was necessary to greatly exaggerate the thicknessof the sheets of paper constituting the leaves of the index and of theguards e,mounted thereon; and in Fig. 6 I have represented thebalance-index as opened, so as to disclose the first page of the indexand the recapitulation-page, the intermediate leaves of the index beinglifted out of the way. This figure is designed to illustrate theparticular checking system for the use of which my invention wasspecially conceived and designed.

The letters designate the parts referred to in the description of thesaid drawings.

From Fig. 6 it will be observed that the first page of the index isprovided with six columns, which, beginning at the left, are headedChecks, Deposits, Debit-balance, Credit-balance, Name, (of thecustomer,) and Page, (of the ledger on which the particular account isentered,) and below the ICO headings the page is horizontally ruled orlined, providing spaces to receive the entries belonging to eachparticular column and relating to a particular account, and therebysegregating and arranging all the correlative memoranda or items ofinformation in horizontal sequence. The surface of that portion of thepage of the index embracing the first four columns has a siliciouscoating to enable the items of information posted in the said columns tobe changed, so as to note the change in the account of any customer. Atthe bottom of the four columns I provide a number of spaces forfootings, as shown, in which spaces may be inserted for the guidance ofthe user of the book the phrases Credit-balance, Subtract debit-balance,Net credit-balance, Add checks to this amount, and Proof of page, orlike appropriate remarks.

Those pages of my index of which the one just described is an exampleare provided as an index to the balances shown in the ledger in theaccounts therein kept, each page relating to the accounts of aparticular group of names, which names are intended to be alphabeticallygrouped, and such pages likewise provide the means for systematicallykeeping the record of the entire transaction involving such group ofaccounts,- the net gains and losses which they represent, and the proofof the accuracy of the work or postingdone, as will shortly be morefully explained.

The general mechanical structure and ar rangement of therecapitulating-page is about like that of the index-pages, providing sixcolumns, the first five of which are laid off on a silicious coating andheaded: Indexpage, (for entering the number of the preceding page of theindex from which the entry posted is taken,) Check totals, Depositstotals,Debit-balances totals, and- Gredit-balances totals. The columnwithout any heading may be used for remarks The horizontal ruling orlining is made to conform to the number of index-pages, and

the spaces so marked off are permanently numbered to agree with thepage-numbers of; such index-pages, and at the bottom of the said columnsI provide a number of spaces for footings, having guidance-phrases ofsimilar import as those described of the indexpages. Theserecapitulation-pages are dividedinto two parts, each representing a dayandbeing identical with each other in their arrangement, as apparentfrom the right half of Fig. 6, the object of which will be seen.

To prevent the opposite leaves from rubs bing against each other, andthereby blurring and effacing the erasable memoranda entered on thesilicious surface, I have provided the leaves with guards extendingaround the edges andconsisting of narrow raised'strips or ridges, whichwhen the book is closed will operate to hold' the surfaces of the leavesapart, and if the book is tobe of largersize like guard strips 6 mayalso be provided across the middle portions of the leaves, asillustrated in Fig. 5.

In describing the system for which my invention was evolved it will bewell to state the arithmetical propositions of which I availed myself.Supposing the index to be used in connection with a ledger of a bankingconcern and that the ledger is just opened, with no entries of netbalances of previous transactions to be taken into consideration, inthat event the actual net balances on hand at the close of the day plusthe checks paid equal the total amount which the bank received duringthat day and has to account for. The net balance is of course obtainedby deducting the sum of the debit'balances or overdrafts from thebalances which represent the sums to the credit of accounts. If there isa previous credit-balance to be taken into consideration, the presentnet credit-balances on hand plus the checks paid equal the sums of theamounts received by the bank and the said previous credit-balance. \Viththis preliminary statement the practical use of my system may bedemonstrated by following the entries recording a days current work. Onexamining the first of the index-pages, as represented in Fig. 6, weobserve the account of John Adams (a new account) and find that hisaccount is entered at page 24 of the ledger. The transactions recordedof Mr. Adams show that he deposited $1,000 and drew checks which werepresented and paid to the sum of $750, and he therefore has a balance ondeposit of $250, all of which facts are properly noted in the respectivecolumns under proper headings. William Andrews (another newaccount)deposited $5200. His account is entered at page 25 of the ledger.against his account for the sum of $225, thus making an overdraft of3325, all of which facts are also properly posted, as described andshown, the overdraft being noted in the debitbalance column. In likemanner other persons whose names according to alphabetical arrangementare entered on this index-page make deposits and draw checks, and thefacts representing the state of their respective accounts are dulyposted. pose that all the entries, properly footed at the close of thedays business, will give the following totals on this page-namely,checks drawn and paid, $1,739.27; deposits, $3,882.70;

We will now sup- He drew checks debit-balance, $831.81; credit-balance,$8,-

the total checks, amounting to $1,739.27, and

obtain as a result the sum of $9,608.34; We now add to the totaldeposits-namely, the

sum of $3,882.70-the said preceding days credit-balance of $5,725.64 andhave as a result the sum of $9,608.3at, which gives a proof of thispage, the two final sums as above given being equal. In like manner thework of the day for each page of the index is completed and proved. Thenthe totals of the first index-page are carried forward to therecapitulating-page and placed in their respective columns opposite thenumber of the index-page, and in the same manner all remainingindexpagesare likewise posted. Thereupon all the columns of therecapitulating-page are footed, and the following totals for the dayswork are found, to wit: total cheeks, $13,225.50; totaldeposits,816,576.35; total debit-balance, 81,463.25; total credit-balance,$186,275.75. Subtracting the total debit'balauce from the totalcredit-balance gives as a net credit total-balance the sum of$184,812.50. Adding to this the sum of total checks-namely,813,225.50gives the sum of $198,038. Now to the total deposits, beingthe sum of $16,576,555, we add the preceding days total netcredit-balance, which was the sum of 8l8l,-t6l.65, and obtain the sum of$198,038, which, being equal to the other final sum, proves the dayswork as correct. As seen in Fig. 6, we have considered the record of thetransactions had for the 15th day of November. When the transactions forthe next day are entered, the entries on the indexpage are changed asthe facts require; but the records of the totals of each page of theindex is preserved while making up the rec ords of the totals for thenext day, which next day, as a matter of fact, is the current businessday, while the preserved records represent the preceding business day.The improved feature of the recapitulating-page in connection with theindex portion of the book is found-in retaining the preceding days workintact until the present days work is fully completed, and if by chanceany error is made on one side of the general balance and another erroris made on the other side of equal amount and the first day thuserroneously balanced the second or present days work would fail tobalance, and having erased the intermediate memoranda in the precedingleaves we have no other place to obtain the complete transactions of thepreceding day than the memoranda thereof on this particular page. Thismemoranda, however, being preserved complete in itself without a singleerasure until the present days work is itself finished one can thusrefer to the preceding days work in any of its part if there are anydiscrepancies until the same have been fully corrected and correctbalances obtained for two days consecutive work, and in this wise areliable system of checking up the work is followed with but littleextra effort.

The provision of an erasing-surface for the leaf or leaves of my indexis optional, as already mentioned. Indeed, it may be consideredpreferable for certain classes of work or purposes to retain thememoranda entered on all the sheets or that entered on therecapitulatingsheet. \Vhen the noted matters are intended to bepreserved, ordinary sheets of paper suitably ruled, so as to be adaptedto the use specified, is all that is required; and I do not wish to beunderstood as stating that the ledger-balances sheets and therecapitulating-sheets are under all circumstances to be permanentlyunited mechanically, as such' is not required. For my system it is,however, essential that both ledger-balances sheets andrecapitulating-sheets be pro vided, so that they may be used incombination with each other in accordance with the above-describedsystem.

Having thus fully described my invention, now what I claim, and desireto secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. In a ledger-balances index, the combination of the ledger-balancesleaves vertically ruled to present columns for debit and credit items,and debit and credit balances, names, and ledger-page numbers, andhorizontally 'ruled, to segregate and arrange in horizontal sequence,all the correlative memoranda, or items of information; that portion ofthe surface of said sheets designed for the debit and credit memorandabeing faced or coated with a silicious, or other material to render suchmemoranda erasable; and a recapitulatingsheet on which to recapitulate,or summarize, the debit and credit memoranda entered on the said otherleaves, such recapitulatingsheet being vertically ruled to presentcolumns corresponding with those provided on the ledger-balances leavesfor the debit and credit memoranda, and an additional column in which toenter the number of the pages of the index summarized, and beinghorizontally ruled to correspond with the pages of the preceding set ofledger-balances leaves, and arrange all the footings, or transferredinformation, in horizontal sequence, substantially as described.

2. In a ledger-balances index, the combination of the ledger-balancesleaves vertically ruled to present columns for debit and credit items,and debit and credit balances, names,

and ledger-page numbers, and horizontally ruled to segregate and arrangein horizontal sequence, all the correlative memoranda, or items ofinformation; that portion of the surface of said sheets designed for thedebit and credit memoranda being faced or coated with a silicious, orother material to render such niemoranda erasable; and arecapitulatingsheet on which to recapitulate or summarize the debit andcredit memoranda entered on the said other leaves, suchrecapitulatingsheet comprising two parts or divisions, each of which isvertically ruled to present columns corresponding with those provided onthe ledger-balances leaves for the debit and credit memoranda, and anadditional column in which to enter the number of the pages of the indexsummarized, and being horizontally ruled to correspond with the pages ofthe preceding set of ledger-balances leaves, and arrange all thefootings, or transferred information, in horizontal sequence,substantially as described.

3. In a led ger-balances index, the combination of the ledgenbalancesleaves vertically ruled to present columns for debit and credit itemsand debit and credit balances, names, and ledger-page numbers, andhorizontally ruled to segregate and arrange in horizontal sequence, allthe correlative memoranda, or items of information; that portion of thesurfaces of said sheets designed for the debit and credit memorandabeing faced or coated with a silicious, or other material, to rendersuch memoranda erasable; and a recapitulatingsheet on which torecapitulate, or summarize the debit and credit memoranda entered on thesaid other leaves, such recapitulatingsheet being vertically ruled topresent columns corresponding with those provided on the ledger-balancesleaves for the debit and credit memoranda, and an additional column inwhich to enter the number of the pages of the index su mmarized, andbeing horizontally ruled to correspond with the pages of the precedingset of ledger-balances leaves, and arrange all the footings, ortransferred information, in horizontal sequence; that portion of thesurface of said recapitulating-sheet designed for the debit and creditmemoranda' being also faced, or coated, with a silicious, or othermaterial, to render such memoranda erasable, substantially as described.

4:. In a ledger-balances index, the combination of the ledger-balancesleaves vertically ruled to present columns for debit and credit items,and debit and credit balances, names and ledger-page numbers, andhorizontally ruled to segregate and arrange in horizontal sequence allthe correlative memoranda, or items of information; that portion of thesurfaces of said sheets designed for the debit and credit memoraudabeing faced, or coated,with a silicious, or other material, to rendersuch memoranda erasable; a recapitulating-sheet on which torecapitulate, or summarize, the

debit and credit memoranda entered on the said other leaves, suchrecapitulating-sheet being vertically ruled to present columnscorresponding with those provided on the ledge1= balances leaves for thedebit and credit memorauda; and an additional column in which to enterthe number of the pages of the index summarized, and being horizontallyruled to correspond with the pages of the preceding set ofledger-balances leaves, and arrange all the footings, or transferredinformation, in horizontal sequence; that portion of the surface of saidrecapitulating-sheet designed for the debit and credit memoranda beingalso faced, or coated, with a silicious or other material, to rendersuch memoranda erasable, and the said leaves being provided with guards,or raised ridges, operating to keep their opposed faces apart, andthereby prevent the erasable memoranda thereon written from becomingblurred, or effaced, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, in thepresence of two witnesses, this 21st day of November, 1899.

VINEYARD CRAWFORD BROOK. lVitnesses:

L. D. HENDERSON, T. J. GEIsLER.

